Some 400 participants at a Dutch conference on a boat crossing the Rotterdam harbour recently watched a number of high level speakers, like the former Dutch Prime Minister Lubbers, a minister and several CEOs. The occasion was the official opening of a pilot plant for carbon capture with the coal power plant of E.ON in the Rotterdam harbour. The capture pilot is not even the largest in the Netherlands. Moreover, the hourly reduction rate of 250 kg CO2 is comparable to the reduction rate of a small, 500 kilowatt wind turbine. Nevertheless the attention from everyone, including the media, was impressive.

The reasons for this exposure and marketing campaign are obvious. Large utilities like E.ON – the organiser of the event - are recognising the problems fossil fuel powered electricity generation will meet in a carbon constrained world. For coal, CCS seems the only way to continue its position in the power sector. That explains why a simple R&D experiment – although impressive in size – is paid so much attention.

A full scale demo will not be here for years. A full scale commercial CCS plant will take at least another ten to fifteen years. So why bother? Why not put all your money in renewable technologies that are already there?

The answer is simple and documented in many outlooks for global energy use in the coming decades. Fossil fuels, and especially coal, will continue to be a main driver for economic development in developing countries. If we want to achieve a 40 to 60% emissions reduction by 2050, CCS might come in very handy, at least on a global scale. That is why GreenPrices will keep on reporting on the issue.

But let's be clear: CCS is not a real sustainable solution in the long term. Maybe for several decades, or even a century, CCS will be needed to reduce our emissions below dangerous levels. But everyone, including the large utilities, have to be well aware that CCS will only be a temporary excuse for using fossil fuels. Basically, there is only one real sustainable solution: scrutinise all energy demand thoroughly and meet the remaining demand with renewable sources.

Work on CCS should not detract from work on energy efficiency and on the development of renewable energy technologies. You could even wonder why developed countries are working on CCS at all, instead of putting all efforts into renewables and efficiency. But let's be realistic. Fossil fuels will still be a reality in the coming decades, which means CCS on a global scale is inevitable.

Rolf de Vos
Editor in chief
GreenPrices
r.devos@greenprices.com